Rock out with your tech out

If you've bought tickets to the Fat as Butter music festival in Newcastle at the start of November there's a few necessities you must remember to bring with you on the day; sunscreen, water and your Wi-Fi-enabled mobile phone.

Alongside the Dandy Warhols and Faker, Australian company myKP will be on hand delivering free Wi-Fi internet access at the festival, allowing party goers to stay in touch with one another via the promotions software partner Fring — communications software which gives users access to a range of popular instant messaging clients like MSN, Yahoo and Google Talk, as well as VoIP style voice communication.

The Wi-Fi signal will originate from a purpose-built Holden SS Sedan pimped out with enough tech to have both Xhibit and Bill Gates drooling in equal measure. "The system is a multiple radio solution with over 4,000 different virtual antenna combinations," says Patrick Hooper, managing director of Wireless Data Solutions — the company responsible for the Wi-Fi set up in the truck.

"It's smart enough to recognise when something is in its way and can bend and manipulate the signal on the fly to accommodate."

What this means is that wherever you are on the festival grounds you should have free and easy-to-use contact with your mates throughout the day. This is a godsend for anyone who has been at a music festival recently and has been unable to make a call because of the high congestion on the mobile networks.

myKP has a festival survival kit on its website with details about how to register to use the free Wi-Fi and download links for Fring.